The annual flagship event which was last held physically in 2019 will bring together 12 winning student companies from the Regional Company of the Year competition to compete for the National Company of the Year award sponsored by First Bank of Nigeria Limited.

The winner of the National Company of the Year competition will proceed further to represent Nigeria at the Junior Achievement Africa’s Company of the Year (ACOY) competition.

The goal of the Junior Achievement Company Program is to inspire senior secondary school students to start and run their own business(es), develop a product or service, and market their brand.

With the support of seasoned volunteers, students come together to form a company, choose a business name and elect company officers to oversee the operations of the company for the program duration.

These activities help them hone some in-demand skills like creativity, accountability, teamwork, leadership, problem-solving, critical thinking and public speaking needed to succeed in this competition and thrive globally. In the end, the student companies present the results of their enterprise before a panel of judges.

The judges for this year’s competition are: Osayi Alile -CEO, Aspire Coronation Trust(ACT) Foundation; Molade Adeniyi -CEO, Wave; Nneka Itabor, Head, Transaction Banking Sales, Commercial Banking, FirstBank; Afolake Oredola, Business Manager, Commercial Banking, FirstBank; Uchenna Achunine, Director, Business Development and Communications, Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF); David Adegboyega – Sound Character Coach & Nation Builder; Femi Iromini – Co-founder/CEO Moni Africa.

According to the Executive Director, Junior Achievement Nigeria, Foluso Gbadamosi, she stated:

“We are glad that the National Company of the Year competition will once again be held physically after 2 years of being virtual. We are eager to see the tremendous business solutions and enterprises that our young leaders have doggedly built. More than ever, it is extremely important to equip young people for a global economy and we are grateful to selfless minds in the form of people and organizations who have partnered with us on this mission.

“We celebrate our sponsors, First Bank of Nigeria Limited for their continual support in building young leaders and we say a big thank you to every friend and stakeholder of JAN.”

Folake Ani-Mumuney, FirstBank’s Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications said “we commend Junior Achievement Nigeria for organizing the 22nd edition of the National Company of the Year Competition, a competition that has been impactful in promoting the entrepreneurship skills, spirit and talent innate in school children, whom are unarguably the leaders of tomorrow.

Our sponsorship of the National Company of the Year competition aligns with our FutureFirst initiative driven to promote financial literacy, entrepreneurship and innovative development and career counseling of school children at an early age. We are excited to be part of the entrepreneurship journey of all representatives of the participating teams and we wish everyone the best”, she concluded.

The 12 student companies competing at Junior Achievement Nigeria 2022 National Company of the Year are:

1. Green Apex student company from International School, University of Lagos; produced a biodegradable sanitary pad for women
2. Champion Squad student company from Taidob College, Asero, Ogun State produced the wearable totes made from a revamping process of used clothes with creative and fashionable local adire
3. Nexus Queens Creation student company from Queens School, Ibadan developed a Decorative led lamp structured with 80% carton. 
4. Octagram student company from Redeemer’s Int’l Secondary School, Rivers State developed a Gas detector which alerts users about leakages and Honey candy that aids digestion, heals sore throat and reduces cholesterol
5. Amazing Explorer student company from Government Secondary School, Tundun, Wada, Jos developed a pig dung, a renewable energy product that produces methane gas which when connected to a burner produces the required energy for cooking and a free energy generator produced from scrap materials.
6. Unique Standard Technology student company from Unique Standard Academy, Kaduna, developed an Infinity DC Generator
7. Kundila Energy concept student company from Government Arabic Secondary School, Kundila, Kano, developed the Kmasgas
8. Government Science and Technical College, Garki, Abuja developed Interlocks
9. Peace Elshadai Model Academy, Auta Balefi, Nasarawa developed a laptop power bank
10. Top Faith International Secondary School, Akwa Ibom developed a Vacuum cleaner
11. De Perficient student company St. John’s of God Secondary School, Enugu developed Verso bot(a robot)
12. The straw recyclers company, from Special Education School, Tudun MALIKI (School for the blind and Deaf) used abandoned straw and take away plastic spoons from the garbage and recycled them into different home accessories: bags, doormats, home decorations, tissue papers containers, coin purses and more.

Asheesh Advani, CEO of JA Worldwide, shared his perspective in response to the nomination: “Peace is only possible when youth in all countries and regions have economic empowerment.

JA Worldwide is honored to receive this nomination and will continue our work to enable all young people to have the skills and mindset to build thriving communities. Our primary hope for solving the world’s most complex problems rests in the young people of today who will be the leaders of tomorrow.”

The nomination has received commendations from various individuals and corporate bodies across the world, especially those that have been partnering with Junior Achievement to promote self-sufficiency amongst the youth in their quest to making the world a better place.

Amongst the organisations is First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s premier and leading financial inclusion services provider.

The financial services heavyweight has remained at the forefront of driving youth development and career building in the country.

FirstBank has been partnering with Junior Achievement Nigeria (JA Nigeria) to implement FutureFirst programme which is built around career counselling, financial literacy and entrepreneurship.

In the last 11 years, the bank, through its partnership with JA Nigeria, has hosted its annual flagship event- the National Company of the Year Competition (NCOY)- which convenes winners of the JA Company Regional Competitions across Nigeria to compete for the National Company of the Year Award.

Excited about the nomination, Mrs. Folake Ani-Mumuney, FirstBank ’s Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communication, said, “we are proud to be associated with Junior Achievement on the nomination of 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination is certainly well deserved given the depth and reach of the organisation’s impact on the society based on its programmes worldwide. As an institution that remains woven into the fabric of the society, we are truly delighted for this recognition and it would further reinforce our commitment to drive youth development and empowerment in partnership with JA Nigeria’’.

In response to the news, Foluso Gbadamosi, Executive Director of JA Nigeria, commented: “It’s an honour to be part of the JA Network and we join our colleagues across the world in celebrating this recognition of our efforts to educate and empower young people across the world. Through our unique blend of entrepreneurship, digital literacy, financial literacy, and work readiness programs, we, at JA Nigeria, aim to ensure that Nigerian youth, regardless of socioeconomic status, maximise their potential and take ownership of their economic future as they become leaders of tomorrow”

Nominations may only be received from heads of state and certain elected officials, university professors in selected fields, past Nobel laureates, and a few other notable individuals.

Although the identity of each nominee is officially to remain anonymous for 50 years, we have received permission to share with you that we were nominated by a distinguished Professor of Law and International Affairs who was impressed by JA’s incredible global reach, our success in delivering economic empowerment to youth at scale, and our ability to find unity in diversity.